A/N: Since Tsuna and Co. are dealing with another organization, there are going to be quite a few OCs in this story; this chapter has a lot to do with the intro of said OCs.

Hope you enjoy

Alexandria Schuyler sighed, looking over her latest report. It was a routine check-up, something that her department was required to send to the higher-ups once a month and nothing Alex really had to think about. Dropping one of the files she had been reading onto her desk she leaned back into her chair, her dark blue eyes scanning the celling of the office. She was slowly becoming more and more frustrated with the mundane assignments her boss kept giving her, all desk work, and was starting to wonder if she would ever leave her cubicle to return to the field again.

Alex had begun her work for the criminal defense system while she was still in her early twenties, serving as an officer with the NYPD. Being particularly bright, she had managed to work her way up the ranks and eventually transferred over to the FBI ins hopes of seeing more action and taking more interesting cases. However, since she had started work under her particular boss, she had been shunted aside and cooped up in one of the cubicles, writing briefs, reports, and even helping with her department's budget.

This isn't why I joined the FBI she thought, scowling at the ceiling. She wanted desperately to return to the field, to feel that adrenaline rush that came with a particularly interesting case.

"Frustrated much?"

Alex looked up to see her FBI partner, Joan Laurens standing in the doorway of her cubicle, a small smile on her face. Joan was a good deal taller than Alex, with a slender build, light blue eyes and light brown hair. Alex never fully understood why Joan had decided to pursue a career in law enforcement; she was from one of the wealthiest families in South Carolina and had direct familial ties to some of the most powerful men in the government. Joan had once explained it to Alex as a matter of honor and serving one's country, but at times Alex had a sneaking suspicion that it might have something more to do with breaking out of the family mold and winning her father's approval. Either way, Alex was glad she had chosen this career path. The two had been assigned to each other for field assignments upon beginning their work at the agency and had hit it off instantly, quickly becoming very close friends.

"What gave me away?" Alex asked, sitting up and spinning her chair around to look up at her partner.

"Lexy, dearest, you really are terrible at covering your emotions." Joan smiled, "Dreaming of the big leagues again?"

"That's why I joined the FBI in the first place," Alex sighed, throwing her hands up, "Joan, I had more interesting work with the NYPD for Christ's sake, now it's all desk work and writing briefs…I'm just so fed up with this! I want to get out onto the field again!"

"You know the boss is doing what he thinks is right." Joan responded, leaning against the doorway, "You're a horribly talented writer, so it would make sense to place you behind the desk instead of in the field."

"So because I'm good at something I'm punished?"

"Lexy, that's not how it is at all, you know that." Joan shook her head, "Boss is trying to run this department as smoothly as possible and well…you just seem to understand the boss with your writing. I'd say you're better at expressing what the boss is trying to say than even he is!"

"That's because I'm a substantially better writer," Alex snapped back, "And anyways, I don't care, Joan! I want to get out there, not stay stuck in here, cooped up in a desk all day dealing with paperwork and memos and notices and budgets! I just hate this so much!"

"Lexy, calm down. And dear, control that ego of yours." Joan said, soothingly, reaching forward and pulling Alex into a hug, "We'll get back out there sooner or later, I'm sure of it. In the meantime, have you been bothering the boss about field assignments?"

"I don't think it's my ego if it's the truth," Alex muttered sullenly, leaning her head against her friend's stomach, "And yea I have been. Pretty much every day actually."

"I think it's starting to grate on him, Lexy." Joan chuckled.

"Why do you say that?" Alex asked, pulling back from her friend.

"He blew up at me today." Joan said shortly, shrugging, "I –er may have been asking about getting a field assignment too and I guess he was just in a bad mood. He started ranting something about how the three of us wouldn't stop bothering him for field work and it wasn't his fault that there weren't more interesting crimes happening and we should be grateful for any peace blah blah blah…"

"The three of us?" Alex frowned, "That's you, me, and let me guess, Gilbert?"

"Of course" Joan laughed, "You know how that boy is. He's completely awestruck by the boss, follows him around like a little duckling, but he wants to get out there just as badly as we do."

"Would it be wrong to assume you lovely ladies are talking about me behind my back?"

"Well speak of the devil" Joan muttered looking over her shoulder at the young man, Gilbert Noailles, standing behind her. He was very tall, gangly and graceless with shocking red hair, blue eyes, and rather pale and freckled skin. He was around a year younger than Joan and Alex, but the three were good friends and often spent time together outside of work. Gilbert was from France, but had become a naturalized American citizen about a year ago. He often reminded Alex of an overgrown, slightly awkward puppy dog, determined to please and love all that he met, and completely starry-eyed by everything around him.

When she first met Gilbert, Alex had asked him why he decided to come to America and he had launched into some long-winded tirade about liberty and freedom and god knows what else, claiming that France and America were "brothers in liberty" which made it his "duty" to ensure all evil-doers were punished in both countries or something like that. Alex hadn't really understood it, but she had made a mental note to discuss it with him sometimes in the near future. She loved a good discussion or debate (which was what nearly all of Alex's discussions seemed to turn into) more than anything and Gilbert promised to be a rather interesting partner in that sense.

"Gilbert don't you know better than to eavesdrop on other's conversations." Joan reprimanded, smiling lightly, "Goodness, don't they teach you manners in France?"

"I wasn't eavesdropping, Joan I just came to deliver a message" Gilbert responded, also smiling. Though his English was very good, there was a slight accent underlying his speech, "It's from the boss. He wants to see you two."

"You know about what?" Alex asked, "If it's about the report, it's nearly done."

"No, it's not about that, nothing so trivial he said." Gilbert quickly shook his head, "It's important, so you better hurry over. He's in interrogation room B5."

"Well then" Alex stood, stretching slightly, "Thanks for letting us know, Gil. We'll head over there right now."

"Let me know what it is?" he asked, "I'm actually really curious; the boss sounded somewhat stressed and well…I don't' want him to overexert himself you know. He always works so hard."

"Will do and don't worry about him, you know he wouldn't want that." Alex nodded, slipping her suit jacket on and smoothing out the creases, "Ready to go, Joan?"

"Sure thing" her partner nodded. With a quick good-bye to Gilbert, the two hurried out of the cubicle headed straight to the interrogation hall.

It took Alex and Joan about ten minutes to arrive outside the room that Gilbert had directed them to. There were two guards stationed outside the room and they looked up upon hearing the two women approaching.

"Can we help you?" one of the guards asked, his eyes wary.

"We're here to see our boss, George Ball." Alex responded curtly, while pulling out her identification and flashing it at him, "Could you tell him Alexandria Schuyler and Joan Laurens are here?"

The guarded nodded, speaking quickly into the earpiece he wore.

"The boss said only one of you should come in." the guard finally said, "The other can wait out here."

"How about you go, Lexy." Joan said, smiling.

"You sure?"

"Absolutely, you probably need it more than I do." Joan yawned, "Besides I'm a bit tired. Don't know if I really want to deal with the boss if he's in one of his moods and you know how stressed he gets with important cases."

Alex smiled at her friend, "Fair enough" she nodded, "I'll see you in a bit."

The guard stepped aside, swiping the card key he held and unlocking the door to the interrogation room. Alex thanked him before pushing the heavy metal door open and stepping inside.

The room, like the other interrogation rooms, was rather bare and lit with bright fluorescent lighting. The walls were a stark white and the floor was covered in light brown tiling. It was not a large room and in the middle of it was a table with two chairs on the opposite ends of each other. Sitting closer to the door with his back initially facing her was Alex's boss and head of their department, George Ball. He looked up when she entered and recognizing her, nodded his head and smiled tightly.

Her boss was middle-aged, old enough to be Alex's father, but also far taller than her with a very powerful frame that he had managed to maintain despite his age. He had reddish hair that he kept short and tidy, though it was turning grey, and light blue eyes. He had been working for the department for a few decades now and had made his way to the upper ranks nearly a decade and a half ago. Though his career had been plagued by bad luck and rumors of incompetence, Alex knew better. True, he could be grating at times, moody and downright depressing with an explosive temper when provoked, but she genuinely respected him. He had some leadership quality, completely intangible that just drew men to him, (one of Alex's old friends had once joked it was simply because he was always the tallest man in the room) and when cornered she knew he could be rather brilliant.

A young, rather small boy was sitting across from her boss. He had his head in his hands when she opened the door, but jerked up upon hearing her come in. He looked to be at least partially Asian, she noted, with brown hair and rather large brown eyes. If she had to guess she would have probably put him at around fourteen to sixteen years old, though it was possible he could have been younger, with such a slight build.

"You called, sir?" she asked her boss, quickly shifting her attention away from the boy.

"Yes, Schuyler." He boss responded. "You've been asking for field work lately, haven't you?" her boss asked, "Well, more specifically you and Laurens have been."

"Yes, sir we have been." Alex said, eagerly, "We-I feel that we could be very useful in such a position. We have experience and are extremely dedicated to this organization. True, we have yet to work with the FBI but that's because we haven't been given a chance yet. If you would just trust us on this, we would not let you down, sir I promise you that. I personally have an extensive record with the NYPD and-"

"I understand, Schuyler, do you always have to respond to my questions with a short manifesto?" her boss asked, cutting her off, "A simple "yes" or "no" would have sufficed."

"Sir-"

"I'm talking, please do not interrupt me. Either way, calm down, you're getting your wish." Her boss gestured to the young boy, who smiled nervously at Alex, "You're looking at your new field assignment."

"I don't understand, sir."

"This kid's named Tsunayoshi Sawada." Her boss explained, handing Alex a manila envelope, "His info's in there, brush up on it. You're going to be protecting this kid and his friends for the next few weeks, Schuyler."

"Protecting?"

"You know the East Side case?"

Alex stiffened. She had heard some talk around the department about some strange new technology the mafia and other crime syndicates were allegedly using, something called box weapons and rings. They had been briefed on the basic concepts of these weapons and even how to use them, but even then little was known about exactly what they were, how they worked, and how they came into being. Though the FBI had been able to create some rudimentary box weapons and rings (Alex even had a few opportunities to try to open one herself) there still existed the fear that some criminal syndicates had evolved the weapon far beyond the FBI's capacities and the whole organization had been talking nonstop about them for the past few months. The East Side was, at the moment, their best lead on these box weapons and fully understanding what they were and how the criminal world was using them.

"I have sir, why?"

"This kid's directly related to the case. Saw a transaction go down between the East Side and a local gang." Her boss said, "We actually thought he was with them at first but we ran a background check on him and his friends, interrogated all of them as well as the individuals we arrested at the scene and there's pretty much nothing tying him to any of this. Just seems like they were in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"That's unfortunate, sir."

"Indeed" her boss nodded, "Nonetheless, you understand why this kid needs protection? Him and his buddies helped us, accidentally mind you, but helped us nonetheless obtain the evidence to bring these organizations to their knees. We even managed to get our hands on a whole shipment of those box weapons because of this operation. They're being analyzed by research now so hopefully we'll have some answers soon. Either way, there's a good chance that these kids are going to be targeted by those involved and put simply, I want you to make sure nothing happens to them till we're sure we've taken these groups down and they're safe."

"Of course, sir."

"You'll need to be careful. We don't know how much the East Side and the local gang knows and we don't know if they've got their eyes on these kids." Her boss spoke quickly, his voice tense and clipped, "They had security cameras at their little hideout which were transmitting live stream to a different location. We weren't able to trace it unfortunately; the other side cut it off as soon as the realized things were going bad but that means there's a good chance that they've got friends out there that have these kids' faces."

"What gang was the East Side dealing with, sir?"

"The Kassels." Her boss responded, "You're going to want to read up on them. Be sure you understand who they are, how they operate, everything. They're not a huge family but they've got a decent amount of weight behind them. Our real fear is if the East Side teams up with the Kassels. Alone, they're not a threat but together they could cause some problem. We do not want to take any risks in this operation."

"Yes, sir."

"And you understand how important this is?" her boss asked, "We want to keep casualties to a minimum and it's going to be doubly problematic if these kids die."

"Why is that, sir?"

"Well apart from five dead kids there's the issue that none of them are American." Her boss explained, "They're Japanese. So if they die, PSIA gets involved and currently I don't think we want that, especially considering the rumors I've heard of PSIA's new boss."

"What do you mean, sir?"

"It isn't important" her boss waved his hand, "Since these kids aren't going to be dying anytime soon, right?"

"Naturally, sir." Alex nodded quickly, "You've selected Laurens and me for the case then?"

"I have." Her bossed nodded, "But know this, Schuyler. I've got a lot of people breathing down my neck about this case and who I'm putting on it."

"Don't worry." Alex responded, "I have proven myself worthy before and I will make you recognize my worth again, sir."

Her boss smiled, "That's the answer I expected from you, young lady. Don't let me down."

"I won't, sir."

"Very well" her boss stood, and Alex took a step back to give him some room, "Laurens is outside?"

Alex nodded.

"I'm going to update her on the info then." Her boss said, "Get to know Mr. Sawada and after you'll meet the other kids you'll be protecting. That sound good to you?"

"Of course, sir!"

"No need to be so stiff, Schuyler." Her boss chuckled, "I have faith in you; your work in the past has been excellent and I'm sure you'll continue to perform admirably in the field."

Alex felt her cheeks heat up slightly. Compliments from her boss were far and few in between and it was the first time he had ever praised her so highly, "T-thank you, sir." She stammered, trying to maintain her composure.

Her boss nodded, smiled at the young boy who smiled hesitantly back, then stepped out of the room, leaving Alex alone in the room with the boy she was supposed to be protecting. Regaining her composure she took the seat her boss had just left, shooting a smile to the boy as she sat down. There was a manila folder in front of her seat, presumably holding the information the FBI had managed to dig up on the boy.

"So…Tsunayoshi Sawada." Alex said, reaching forward, opening the manila file and quickly scanning the contents, "That's an interesting name. Japanese right?"

"Yes," his voice was rather quiet she noted, and he looked absolutely worn out.

"Makes sense." Alex nodded, "You mind I call you Tuna? Sorry but your name's a mouthful."

Tsuna seemed startled at the nickname, then sighed, "I would prefer if you called me Tsuna at the very least…" he muttered.

"Can't hear ya if you don't speak up, Tuna it is." Alex said, cheerfully, completely ignoring him, "Hold on a second kid you're already in college?"

"Yes?"

"Tuna, you look like you're about 15 years old how can you already be in college?"

"I'm not 15!" Tsuna protested.

"You're barely taller than me and I'm pretty small," Alex shook her head, flipping through the file, "You have rising sophomore status at Namimori University? That's in Japan?"

Tsuna nodded, "It's my hometown."

"Okay" Alex said, nodding, "You have done a bit of travelling, namely in Italy. This is your first time in the United States however. You come from an upper middle-class family with two parents, though your dad seems to be out of the country often on work. Overall you have a completely clean record with no history or connection with anything even remotely related to the underworld. So tell me how'd a boy like you get mixed up in all of this?"

Tsuna sighed, pausing for a second "Look, the truth is we got lost. That's all there is to it. We were trying to get to my friend's boxing tournament-"

"What's your friend's name?"

"Ryohei Sasagawa." Tsuna responded, "He's trying to make it in boxing and came to America to see if he could succeed here."

"Fair enough." Alex said, "Can't say I've heard of him, but continue your story."

"Anyways we were trying to figure out how to get to the tournament and got lost. We asked this man we saw, I think his name was Squid, for instructions and next thing we know, we're being mistaken for a mafia family and somehow involved in some sort of weapons trade."

"Why did you follow this man?"

"Because we were completely lost, had no map or any idea where we were going and it was getting late." Tsuna shook his head, "We were kinda desperate, that's really what it came down to."

"Did you not have a map of New York or anything?"

"We…thought we did." Tsuna sighed, "And I mean technically we did but it really was useless."

"Why?"

"It was the map our boxing friend had sent us…and well he's not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer and um. Well. It was a map of the entire United States with New York circled."

"You're serious."

"He's a strange man."

"Indeed…" Alex muttered, "And you said it was an arms trade, why do you say that? Did they show you any weapons?"

Tsuna frowned, "I…I can't say they showed us any weapons."

"Then why did you think it was an arms trade?"

"Well they said it was." Tsuna shrugged, "I don't know, they showed us these boxes? They didn't look like any weapon I'd ever seen before but they called them "box weapons" so I assumed they were some sort of new weaponry? Plus they said it was really new, I don't know I'm not familiar with weaponry of any sort."

Alex nodded, frowning thoughtfully. It sure seemed like this kid had at the very least seen the new weaponry, the box weapons, that the criminal world was using, "So I guess myself and my partner are going to be responsible for watching after you lot. There are five of you?"

Tsuna nodded.

"My name is Alexandria Schuyler and you may call me Alex." She explained to him, "I will be staying with you for the next few weeks until we get this sorted out to make sure you and your friends are safe. I'll come up with a cover story on how we met and our relationship. That sound good to you?"

"You're going to be staying with us?"

"That is correct." She responded, "Usually we would just have someone coming by to check on you every once in a while but like the boss said, we really would prefer you lot not dying. Understand this is a precaution; if we genuinely thought your lives were in immediate and serious danger, we'd be holding you in custody. As is, I should be enough to ensure your safety."

"I…I don't think that's really necessary." Tsuna stammered, a worried expression spreading across his face.

"You may not but we do." Alex said, "Wouldn't you prefer the protection?"

"Um." Tsuna hesitated, "Well you see…I mean I guess I would but I…I think we'll be fine? We're not going to be in the US for too much longer anyways?"

"You've got a freaking criminal family after you and you think you'll be fine?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow, "Are you serious kid? You know these guys aren't messing around right? They'll kill you if they think it necessary."

"I get that I just…"

"You just what?"

"I've been in tight spots before. I think we'll be okay without the extra protection."

"Tuna, these are hardened criminals." Alex spoke slowly, disbelief coloring her voice, "We're not talking about your goddamn high school bullies here, you know that? Unless you've got some history with the criminal world and criminal families trying to fucking kill you I don't think you really get it."

Tsuna opened his mouth to protest, but then stopped. After a few seconds of silence he finally sighed, looking at the ground with a defeated expression.

"You're tired, kid" Alex finally said, "Let's get you out of here ASAP and get you wherever it is that you're staying. I'll go talk to your buddies and we'll get you to bed?"

Tsuna said nothing, but nodded, his face still pulled into a small frown.

"I'll be back soon then" Alex said, standing up, "Just hold tight for a few. I'll make it quick."

She smiled at him, trying to reassure him and he gave her an exhausted and forced half-smile in return. Standing quickly, she hurried out of the room, the excitement of a new field mission forcing her face into a strange lopsided grin.

I'm finally getting back out there she thought, not noticing the look of utter despair Tsuna cast her as she ran out of the room.

As soon as the door closed behind the FBI agent, Tsuna slumped down into his chair, burying his hands in his face. How had this happened? The last few hours had passed as a confusing blur, and Tsuna was beyond exhausted. After he had been shoved into the van, he had been driven down to what he assumed was the FBI's headquarters, searched roughly, fingerprinted, then tossed into an interrogation room. A man, rather scary and large, had come to talk to him, a process which took far longer than Tsuna would have preferred. After introducing himself as one "Mr. Ball", the man had asked Tsuna a number of questions involving the boxes (which Tsuna naturally lied about), what he had seen, and what he had been doing in that area.

"Frankly, we've really got no reason to suspect you or even not believe your story." Ball had said, "We ran a background check on you and came up with nothing. Plus, your story matches up with all your friends and the other criminals apparently have no idea who you are."

"So can I go then?" Tsuna had asked, hopeful.

"Well not exactly." Ball had shook his head, "See the thing is, you and your buddies are in a bad situation now. We've got reason to believe that the groups that were involved in the arms trade you saw take place have your identities and may attempt to take revenge on you by killing you."

"Are you serious?" Tsuna had deadpanned, completely exasperated not only by his situation but the idea itself, "So now we've got some New York crime groups after us? Oh that's just fantastic."

"You're taking this remarkably well" Ball had observed, "Most people start crying about now."

"I'm exhausted" Tsuna had snapped back, "Not really in a crying mood."

They had then talked a little more before the female agent, Alex, had come in. She was a small woman, Tsuna had noted, with dark blue eyes and auburn hair that had been tied back into a tight bun. She had been immaculately dressed, wearing a spotless black suit jacket and a matching skirt with rather high pumps. Though she had been horribly stiff while talking to her boss, Tsuna noted that her demeanor had changed drastically when talking to him, and he could not help but notice that she seemed extremely self-assured.

And now she's going to be following us around for the duration of this visit Tsuna groaned, leaning forward and letting his head fall onto the table in front of him. He had tried to explain to her that he really didn't need her protection, but hadn't been able to come up with a convincing lie about why he'd be fine without it. Short of explaining to her that, yes he was actually very familiar with criminals trying to kill him because, through a series of mistakes and events completely beyond his control, he had somehow become the only candidate for the Vongola family so now it seemed like everyone in the criminal world was determined to take at least one crack at his life, Tsuna had no idea how to tell her that he'd be totally fine.

Still he couldn't help but wonder if lying about his knowledge of box weapons and connections to the criminal world had been a good idea. Between Reborn and Gokudera it would only be a matter of minutes before she figured something out.

He hadn't done anything illegal yet though, Tsuna reassured himself and it wasn't like they could just haul people off because of connections, right?

Tsuna would have liked so but he really wasn't sure. Last thing he needed was a file in the FBI; that would, without a doubt, completely and utterly destroy any hope he had left of leading a perfectly normal, mafia-free life.

A/N: I'll be completely honest; all the major OCs in this story (well at least the ones introduced in this chapter) are not original at all. Everything about them; their names, appearances, relations to each other, backstories, personalities, etc. are all based off of other already-existing characters/people. Wonder if anyone can guess who they are? They're pretty famous. Well at least three of them are.

Sorry I just like slipping things from my other interests in my stories! Still, I hope you enjoyed!